Don’t believe anything you read about the New Hampshire budget. It might be a good idea not to believe anything read in any political story. Communications “professionals” on either side of a debate excel only in screeching and grotesque exaggeration. Debate in politics in increasingly composed of two people saying things neither of them believes and no one is expected to take seriously but they hope may fool a few activists who already agree with them. Lost in the ridiculous caterwauling is anything vaguely resembling a fact.

The Unemployment rate in New Hampshire dropped to 5.5% in April, down from 5.7% in March. This drop represents nearly 1700 fewer unemployed in the state. According to the Household Survey, the number of people employed in New Hampshire also grew by over 1000, with the Labor Force contracting by roughly 500.

New Hampshire budget writers grapple with a brand new tax that’s been around for 20 years By Grant D. Bosse SUMMARY: New Hampshire adopted the Medicaid Enhancement Tax as a means to leverage federal matching funds without imposing any real tax liability on state hospitals. After two decades, budget writers finally ended the practice of MediScam […]

The state is on track to generate a modest surplus when the two-year budget passed in 2011 ends this June 30. However, regular revenues are not surging and legislators writing the current budget should estimate cautiously and follow Gov. Hassan’s advice to place this surplus into the long-neglected rainy day fund.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate dropped to 7.5% in April, a decrease of .1 percentage points over the previous month. The number of unemployed fell by 83,000 while the Labor Force grew by 210,000.

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the expansion of Medicaid, which is currently being debated in many states, including here in New Hampshire, does little to improve the health of the newly covered.

The word “budget” comes from an old Middle English word used to describe a wallet or purse that held one’s available money. The state’s budget negotiation ultimately will harken back to the original meaning of the word. Lawmakers of both houses of the Legislature will be unable to begin a negotiation over policy choices until they can agree on how much is contained in the state’s purse.

Other states have always been annoyed by states like New Hampshire without a sales tax. Tax competition is distressing to the uncompetitive. But few tax grabs are as ill considered, unfair, and anti-competitive as the federal government’s attempt to impose a massive new internet sales tax. New Hampshire in particular needs to be careful. The new tax will lead to the elimination of the sales tax competitive advantage that is the foundation of our retail economy.

New Hampshire’s budget experiences the greatest difficulty when short-term fixes solve nothing and merely delay decisions by creating a bigger hole for future legislatures to fix. A budget based on gimmicks and one-time unusual events does nothing to solve anything.

Sound familiar? New Hampshire’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.8% to 5.7% in March, but not due to increased employment. According to the household survey data, the number of unemployed fell by 360 people, resulting in the .1 percentage point drop. However, the number of employed residents increased by 20, while the labor force shrank by 340.